Tag Archives: Advertising

Take an ordinary deck of playing cards. Print the details of 52 unsolved crimes on the face of the cards. Distribute these decks of cards to all 515 police departments and sheriff offices within Minnesota, as well as 75 countywide jail and annex facilities. In addition, send over 10,000 decks to Minnesota state prison inmates. Wait for the tips to come in. And they are coming in.

The neat thing about this project is that it puts the information about these cold cases right into the faces of people who are most likely to be able to help catch a crook. Other crooks. This is a good example of targeting the proper market. Except in this example, the customer is not buying, they are selling… information.

This is a great example of a creative use of an everyday, ordinary product. One that we produce millions of every year. However, this is just one example of thousands of products that are used everyday carrying an important message. Maybe the next great idea will carry your message. We will never know until we try. How about we start today?

Summertime cook-outs, non-profit cook-offs & autumn tailgating are all great opportunities to advertise with an apron. After all, who wants to get sauce all over their party duds? No one! You can do them a big favor by providing the temporary cover they need to look the part of the cook, even if the results leave something to be desired.

Use an apron to tell your customers and prospects that you have them covered – literally.

Here is a bonus spin on this weird idea of the week. This fall, hundreds of grade school students are going to be painting, glueing and creating messes in art classes all over the area. Question: Would your local school appreciate some donated aprons to help keep their students clean? If your business has anything to do with children, art class aprons provide a wonderful opportunity to build brand awareness in an environment that builds credibility and good will.

William Tell knew something about hitting a target; although all he had to do was hit an apple on his kid’s head with an arrow. Targeting today is a whole new challenge; our task is hitting customers, not apples.

Marketing today is about targeting. The old days of blasting a message out into the world and betting on sheer numbers of audience are as gone as disco. Getting your message in front of a favorable demographic is the most efficient, effective ways to spend you marketing dollars. So how can you do that?

Promotional products have always provided a type of advertising that can target a specific group of people. Mass media (television, radio, print) can’t give you control over who (if anybody) might be reading, watching or listening to your ad.

However, you can control who receives a calendar, flashlight or t-shirt. You can deliver your message personally or use direct mail to put it squarely in front of them on their desk. This creates for you an opportunity in that person’s day to (William) Tell your story.